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Friday, April 6, 2018

Have You Got Away With Doing Something Illegal?

I had a lot of fun interacting with the people who responded to my recent post on Facebook. "I don't know if any of you have been bold enough to do what I just did. Just in case there would be knock on the door from the police, I told my husband what I was about to do. I thought about doing this for a long time and today I took the plunge. Today (please don't think less of me for doing this) I cut off all the manufacturer's tags on my throw pillows and rugs. I ignored the label warnings that it was against the law. There! That feels so much better to have that off my chest!"Many responded that they would be visiting me in prison and others said they would bring me a 'special' cake. Many said that they had also done the same but were never caught.

Couldn't resist sharing this one:

Crazy as that sounds, sometimes we do things nonchalantly without giving them much thought and the repercussions are devastating. There were many such occurrences in my life. Trusting people too much. Attempting to do what I thought was the right thing to do. Taking a chance without realizing how naive or vulnerable we were, which landed my husband in prison. Many of us have been in these types of situations and sometimes we escape negative circumstances and sometimes we don't. So when I was asked a question as a blog post challenge, I realized that I had already taken the steps to change. The question was: If it's true in time travel changing even one small thing in the past can drastically change your present, then it also stands to reason changing small things in the now will drastically alter the future. What things might you change to make the future better for yourself or others?" If only I had not given back our adopted son to his birth mother after we had him for a year and knew he would be neglected.....If only Ihad taken a different route home from work the day I was gang raped....If only I had not complied with my husband's logic and stood my ground not to trust our business to our partner....And the list continues. I realize that changing a few things in the past would have meant an easier, smoother life. Or would it? We have no guarantees. We do not know the future. We do not know how other people will respond to decisions we make.

So, like many others, I continue to make the wisest decisions I can. I trust people believing they are telling me the truth. I step out of my comfort zone often to gamble a bit in business and life. It is the way I'm made. It is the way I was brought up. "Do unto others....." I look on the bright side. I expect miracles. I go out of my way to help any and all I can. I would not want to live life any other way. So.....in answer to the question what might I change now to make the future better for myself or others.....I haven't a clue. I live by a moral, ethical, and spiritual code that I would not want to alter. However, I believe the biggest change that most people make as they age is that they take a bit longer to make a decision. They stop and think before responding. They take the time to weigh both sides of each scenario that confronts them. That is labeled wisdom and it comes from experience. Try to get that message across to a young person and it sometimes is a lost cause.

When I am asked about my past and how I survived with a good attitude, the best answer would be one that I believe most of us would agree on: I would not be the person I am if I had not had those experiences. I would not be able to be empathetic with someone else's pain if I had not had similar. I choose not to look at my past but rather, where I am going. If I hadn't gone through the trauma I did, then my book and my show never would have been born -- and they have been such an encouragement to so many. That is how we change our future -- by learning from our past and helping others who are struggling with those same fears, the what-ifs and the if only.

What about you? Would you want to change your past?

This has been part of a blogging challenge entitled Secret Subject Swap. Each blogger is given a secret subject to write about -- the possibilities are fun and surprising. My question was submitted by https://climaxedtheblog.blogspot.comPlease check out the other stories and leave a comment. They would love it if you stopped by: